Nvidia and Intel to settle chipset licensing lawsuit?

No one is suggesting that Intel and Nvidia are going to be BFFs anytime soon, but a posting today over at SemiAccurate indicates there's a chance a settlement will be reached in the bitterchipset licensing lawsuit between the two companies. In a nutshell, the lawsuit was sparked by Intel's desire to keep Nvidia from making chipsets for its Nehalem-based Core processors.

Multiple anonymous sources reportedly believe that, under the terms of the settlement, Nvidia will receive $1 billion in cash. The site adds, "Intel on the other hand will likely be getting licenses to Nvidia patents, and Intel is rumored to not have given up an x86 license that Nvidia has been fishing for." There's no word on whether the settlement terms will allow Nvidia to resume making Intel chipsets, although that probably wouldn't do much good—Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made it clear this summer that his company's chipset development days are behind it.

The article goes on to state that this settlement will likely be announced in mid-December. If so, Nvidia should really be able to celebrate the holidays in style with a $1-billion Christmas bonus.